I'm positive that there's some boredom – if only because planning isn't as risky or as dynamic as doing. There are a few mitigating factors, though. In no particular order:

• We're all on the same page about poorly planned missions leading to character death. This is a long-term campaign in which everybody attached to PCs they've had since May 2009, so the whole group is invested in going to extra mile to stay alive. Nobody wants to die of unnecessary haste!


• I routinely throw in skill rolls against Intelligence Analysis, Psychology, Tactics, and every kind of technical skill to guess at or deduce what's needed and what might happen. Thus, planning sessions always double as reveals, and give the players opportunities to see investments in more cerebral skills pay off for the mission, even if they won't arise in the field.


• I run the true planning stage (as distinct from preliminary scouting, requisitioning/equipping, training/dry run, etc.) as a brainstorming session. Players are welcome to offer any and all plans: simple or complex, safe or risky, serious or humorous. I let the risky and humorous ones have as much airtime as the others, and the ensuing banter leads to laughter and eye-popping. The "what if" speculations are like storytelling within the story.


• I award character points for brilliance in preparatory stages (all of them: scouting, planning, equipping, training, etc.). For instance, the collective decision to carry a cargo of pot to make a rusty freighter look like a scummy smuggler, not a Q-ship for landing raiders, struck me as inspired enough to earn points. Earlier examples from my campaign are the "meat bomb" to feign death in Kyoto and the stomach virus that caused the staff shortage that got Qoqa in the door of the hotel in Beirut.


• All the players have strong feelings about including specific elements in the upcoming action, and use planning as a chance to ensure those spotlight moments. Roleplaying their efforts to include those elements provides a smaller spotlight moment as a prelude. For instance, Bonnie wants Wen to blow things up and be a sniper, so she orders specific explosives and big rifles, and makes sure the plan calls for her to use her skills in those areas.


• I think we all enjoy stuff like The Guns of Navarone and Ocean's Eleven more than we admit!